NEWSLETTER October 2014 Inside this issue Waterways Skills………p2 Wet Room………………..p3 Stort Experience……….p4 Best Practice…………....p5 Birds’ Nest……………....p6 Contacts/RPDs…………p7 Editorial Greetings Don’t miss the stuff about land lines on page 5. The Waterways Skills and Stort Experience stuff on pages 2 and 4 show how a gang of elderly folk can get two really brilliant days organised! A particular thanks to Ken T and Tony C for building fascinating models. Keep on chugging . Steve Swailes AGM Report The AGM was attended by 25 volunteers who heard Geoff summarise the annual report and accounts for the financial year ending March 2014. Geoff thanked the two retiring Trustees David Graham and David Batley who had made a significant contribution to the running of the charity. The year was again challenging. Income levels failed to recover to the level expected but plans laid last year to control expenditure were successful to limit the overall deficit. There was also much good news and our staff and volunteers responded exceptionally well to meet these challenges and opportunities. Trustees focused plans and strategy to build booking levels to a sustainable level and early signs are more positive with bookings received in the last quarter significantly higher than the previous year. Questions were asked about the future of the extended mooring and also if a Health & Safety report should be included in the annual report The annual report and the accounts were approved unanimously. The meeting elected Linda Pailing and Daniel Winter to serve as Trustees for the next 3 years Finally Geoff thanked all staff and volunteers for their efforts to ensure the viability of Canalability. The full report is available to read in the office and if you would like a copy emailed to you please let me know. Geoff Waterways Skills Day Trip Harlow guides were first to experience the new Waterways Skills Day from CanalAbility. The weather was good and during the day all the group operated locks, steered the boat and used the correct knots to moor the boat. They were also shown how to identify sights and wildlife on the river and given all the safety information they should know to keep them safe around rivers and canals The girls belonged to 6th Harlow group and ages ranged between 10 and 13. Guide leader Liz said the girls really enjoyed the day and learnt a lot as well as having fun. They are now planning their next trip. Geoff, Richard (Witter) and Stuart (Jacobs) were the crew and all agreed that the day had been demanding but very enjoyable – “just like the schools trips used to be” This was a trial run to ensure the timings and content were workable. Some changes to the route were made so that the group could receive the theory on how a lock works (using Ken’s excellent working model) before arriving at the first lock but everything else worked well and there was plenty of time for a lunch break at Roydon. The day is now ready for other youth groups to experience and if you know of any group that may be interested please let us know. 2 Stort Daybreak Toilet with disability equipment/Wetroom The following is feedback received from a recent user (this is not the first time we have received such a comment). There were too many other bits of equipment in the disabled toilet to allow the electric wheelchair to move around easily. Please may we ask all crew members to ensure that ALL equipment is neatly stored. Pictures below to help you! 3 River Stort Experience Informative, Fun and Afloat Below you will find an invitation that has gone out to all primary schools in Harlow inviting them to take part in our new education programme. For those of you who have been around for a long time – this is a replacement for the Science Week we used to run. For those of you who are new, this is a great week long activity working with 9/10 and 10/11 year olds. Vacancies for crew are advertised in the normal way – get your name down now to take part in this enjoyable programme. At CanalAbility we believe in “bringing learning to life”. We have developed a day of hands on activities for Year 5 or Year 6 pupils. They will spend half a day enjoying a boat trip along the River Stort, helping to steer the boats and observing the wildlife. They will also spend half a day understanding different aspects of life on our rivers and canals by taking part in various problem solving activities. Our river provides exciting opportunities to deliver many aspects of the national curriculum and offers powerful ways to engage your pupils and bring learning to life. From water to wildlife, from roses and castles to amazing inventions, the opportunities for cross-curricular delivery are enormous. The key aspects of our programme are history, science and geography but there are many other aspects you could cover. Numbers: Time: Venue: There is space for 30 pupils and 6 adults From 09.30 to 14.30 (approximately) Harlow Centre for Outdoor Learning, Burnt Mill Lane, Harlow, CM20 2QS. And I get to wear a funny hat and do a Ken T. impersonation! (Ed) 4 Best Practice Land lines off before starting engines...yes, I know the Skipper’s Checklist says to take the line off last of all, but some strange electrical anomalies have been happening and the latest advice is to take the land line off before starting the engine! Refill water at end of trip...or at least check it! Check weed hatch at end of trip if you have any doubts about funny noises etc. Yes, all the above are what we used to call ‘incident driven’! Many thanks to Mike Colbert for this picture from the Ware Festival 5 6 RIVER PRACTICE DAYS Fri 26 Sep 14 David Powell SD Sun 28 Sep 14 Stephen Swailes RW Sat 18 Oct 14 Richard Witter SD Wed 22 Oct 14 Banny Banyard RW Sun 2 Nov 14 Stephen Swailes SD Wed 5 Nov 14 David Powell SD Mon 17 Nov 14 Roger Nisbet RW Thu 27 Nov 14 Stephen Swailes SC Mon 1 Dec 14 Geoff Hill SD Wed 17 Dec 14 TBA Some more of these may turn into RPD Assessments...watch this space and the website RW River Practice Days opposite. Contact the practice skipper at least 48 hours early to confirm a place and talk about which bits of bank you would like to run into... CONTACTS Admin Team Linda and Sandra Manager Doreen Goodall Chair of Trustees Geoff Hill 01279 424444 01279 424444 07740 799469 01279 813205 [email protected] manager @canalability.co.uk [email protected] Fleet & Moorings Marketing Training Function Heads John Eyre 07721 744615 [email protected] Please refer any queries to Doreen Goodall Please refer any queries to Doreen Goodall Newsletter Training Admin Turnaround Working Parties General Steve Swailes 01992 505223 Nigel Bardsley 07876151350 Tony Catchpole 07752894923 John Joy (via office) 01279 424444 Banny Banyard Geoff Hill Roger Nisbet Dave Powell Steve Swailes Ken Templey Richard Witter [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] working [email protected] Practice Day Skippers 01279 771552 [email protected] 01279 813205 [email protected] 07531 846055 [email protected] 01799 523855 [email protected] 01992 505223 [email protected] 01277 899130 [email protected] 07807 812167 [email protected] EMERGENCY CONTACT NUMBER 01279 260067 Crew Required: http://volunteers.canalboat.org.uk/crewnewpdf.php 7